The A5103 is a major
road
A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation.
There are many types of ...
in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. It runs from
Piccadilly Gardens in
Manchester city centre
Manchester City Centre is the central business district of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England situated within the confines of Great Ancoats Street, A6042 Trinity Way, and A57(M) Mancunian Way which collectively form an inner ring road. ...
to junction 3 of the
M56 motorway
The M56 motorway, also known as the North Cheshire motorway, serves the Cheshire and Greater Manchester areas of England. It runs east to west from junction 4 of the M60 at Gatley, south of Manchester, to Dunkirk, approximately north of Ches ...
and is one of Manchester's principal
radial
Radial is a geometric term of location which may refer to:
Mathematics and Direction
* Vector (geometric), a line
* Radius, adjective form of
* Radial distance, a directional coordinate in a polar coordinate system
* Radial set
* A bearing f ...
routes.
History
![Close view of Hulme Arch](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Close_view_of_Hulme_Arch.jpg)
The original scheme for a new road through the rural area south of Manchester was the design of the
urban planner
An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning.
An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, town ...
Richard Barry Parker
Richard Barry Parker (18 November 1867 – 21 February 1947) was an English architect and urban planner associated with the Arts and Crafts Movement. He was primarily known for his architectural partnership with Raymond Unwin.
Biography
...
, who envisaged the creation of a
parkway – a broad, landscaped highway – to run from the new
garden suburb
The garden city movement was a 20th century urban planning movement promoting satellite communities surrounding the central city and separated with greenbelts. These Garden Cities would contain proportionate areas of residences, industry, and ...
of
Wythenshawe
Wythenshawe () is a district of the city of Manchester, England. Historically in Cheshire, Wythenshawe was transferred in 1931 to the City of Manchester, which had begun building a massive housing estate there in the 1920s. With an area of approx ...
, connecting it with
Manchester City Centre
Manchester City Centre is the central business district of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England situated within the confines of Great Ancoats Street, A6042 Trinity Way, and A57(M) Mancunian Way which collectively form an inner ring road. ...
.
Manchester Corporation
Manchester City Council is the local authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester is the sixth largest city in England by population. Its city council is composed of 96 councillors, three f ...
began construction of the new ''Princess Parkway'' in 1929 with a new bridge over the
River Mersey
The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed par ...
.
The new road was laid out as a
dual carriageway for motor vehicles with a
segregated tram track along the
central reservation for
Manchester Corporation Tramways
Between 1901 and 1949 Manchester Corporation Tramways (known as Manchester Corporation Transport Department from 1929 onwards) was the municipal operator of electric tram services in Manchester, England. At its peak in 1928, the organisation ca ...
to run
tram
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
s into
Manchester City Centre
Manchester City Centre is the central business district of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England situated within the confines of Great Ancoats Street, A6042 Trinity Way, and A57(M) Mancunian Way which collectively form an inner ring road. ...
.
Princess Road/Princess Parkway was one of two new
arterial road
An arterial road or arterial thoroughfare is a high-capacity urban road that sits below freeways/motorways on the road hierarchy in terms of traffic flow and speed. The primary function of an arterial road is to deliver traffic from collector r ...
s into Manchester built by Manchester Corporation; the other was
Kingsway, a few miles to the east, also built as a dual carriageway with reserved tram tracks along the middle. This layout was known as the 'Brodie' system, a new approach to
road design
Highway engineering is an engineering discipline branching from civil engineering that involves the planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of roads, bridges, and tunnels to ensure safe and effective transportation of people and ...
that had been pioneered in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
by
John Alexander Brodie
John Alexander Brodie (1858 – 1934) was an English civil engineer. He was especially known for his contribution to town planning in Liverpool, notably as one of the engineers who led the design of the Mersey Tunnel under the River Merse ...
.
The first tracks were laid out in the 1920s, terminating at
Southern Cemetery;
Manchester Corporation Transport planned to extend the tracks to
Northenden
Northenden is a suburb of Manchester, Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 14,771 at the 2011 census. It lies on the south side of the River Mersey, west of Stockport and south of Manchester city centre, bounded by Didsbury to ...
and Wythenshawe, but following a change in transport policy in 1930, the Corporation invested in bus services instead.
Manchester Corporation Tramways eventually ceased operation in 1949 and the tram tracks were removed.
Parker's scenic Parkway route, running south from Barlow Moor Road to Altrincham Road, was noted for its landscaped verges and
rose beds. In its 1945 plan, Manchester Corporation proposed extending the road northwards into the city centre and south through
Ollerton
Ollerton is a town in the Newark and Sherwood District, Nottinghamshire, England, on the edge of Sherwood Forest in the area known as the Dukeries. It forms part of the civil parish of Ollerton and Boughton. OS Explorer Map 270: Sherwood Forest: ...
and
Toft, creating a major traffic route into the city. In 1969, work began to upgrade Princess Parkway to
motorway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...
standards, in order to feed into the
M56 motorway
The M56 motorway, also known as the North Cheshire motorway, serves the Cheshire and Greater Manchester areas of England. It runs east to west from junction 4 of the M60 at Gatley, south of Manchester, to Dunkirk, approximately north of Ches ...
. To enable this work, Parker's landscaping was removed, with 50,000 trees and shrubs being uprooted, and pedestrian
footbridge
A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...
s were installed, and an old
country house, Kenworthy Hall, was demolished.
In 1997, the
Hulme Arch Bridge
The Hulme Arch Bridge in Hulme, Manchester, England, supports Stretford Road as it passes over Princess Road, and is located at grid reference . The construction of the bridge formed part of the regeneration of the Hulme district of Manchester ...
designed by
Chris Wilkinson Architects and
Arup was installed over Princess Road in the
Hulme
Hulme () is an inner city area and electoral ward of Manchester, England, immediately south of Manchester city centre. It has a significant industrial heritage.
Historically in Lancashire, the name Hulme is derived from the Old Norse word ...
area.
Route description
A6 to the Mancunian Way
This short section is entirely single-carriageway: it runs in roughly a north–south direction from the junction of the
A6 and
A62 along
Portland Street
Portland Street is a popular street in Kowloon, Hong Kong. The street is known for its business and retailing skyscraper complex Langham Place, numerous restaurants and its red-light district.
Geography
Running north-south and parallel to (an ...
. It then
shares a short section with the
A34 (
Oxford Street
Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and ...
) running west until
St Peter's Square. After St Peter's Square, it proceeds south-west along Lower
Mosley Street
Mosley Street is a street in Manchester, England. It runs between its junction with Piccadilly Gardens and Market Street to St Peter's Square. Beyond St Peter's Square it becomes Lower Mosley Street. It is the location of several Grade II and G ...
, running past the
Manchester Central Convention Complex
Manchester Central Convention Complex (commonly known as Manchester Central or GMEX (Greater Manchester Exhibition Centre)) is an exhibition and conference centre converted from the former Manchester Central railway station in Manchester, Engl ...
(formerly
Manchester Central station
Manchester Central railway station is a former railway station in Manchester city centre, England. One of Manchester's main railway terminals between 1880 and 1969, it has been converted into an exhibition and conference centre, originally know ...
), and the
Bridgewater Hall. It then turns south along Albion and Medlock Streets (crossing the
Rochdale Canal, the railway viaduct, and the
River Medlock
The River Medlock is a river in Greater Manchester, England, which rises near Oldham and flows south and west for to join the River Irwell in Manchester city centre.
Sources
Rising in the hills that surround Strinesdale just to the east of Ol ...
), where it meets the
Mancunian Way
The Mancunian Way is a two mile long grade separated elevated motorway in Manchester, England. It is officially made up of the A57(M) and A635(M) motorways, although the latter does not appear on road signs for practical reasons. It is also pa ...
at a roundabout.
Princess Road (A57(M) motorway to the M60 motorway)
This section is entirely
dual carriageway primary route
The United Kingdom has a network of roads, of varied quality and capacity, totalling about . Road distances are shown in miles or yards and UK speed limits are indicated in miles per hour (mph) or by the use of the national speed limit (NSL) sy ...
leading in a southerly direction. The entire section is officially called ''Princess Road'', but many locals refer to it as ''Princess Parkway'' (see below). This section predominantly has a speed limit. Just before the M60 J5, the speed limit goes up to 40 mph.
The road runs through
Hulme
Hulme () is an inner city area and electoral ward of Manchester, England, immediately south of Manchester city centre. It has a significant industrial heritage.
Historically in Lancashire, the name Hulme is derived from the Old Norse word ...
,
Moss Side
Moss Side is an inner-city area of Manchester, England, south of the city centre, It had a population of 20,745 at the 2021 census. Moss Side is bounded by Hulme to the north, Chorlton-on-Medlock, Rusholme and Fallowfield to the east, W ...
and
Whalley Range, passing
William Hulme Grammar School,
Whalley Range High School and
Southern Cemetery on the way.
This section has many
traffic light
Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – known also as robots in South Africa are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order to control flows of traffic.
Traffic light ...
controlled junctions, including major junctions with the
A6010 Manchester middle ring road and
A5145 Barlow Moor Road. south of its junction with the A5145, the road crosses the
River Mersey
The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed par ...
and meets the
M60 motorway
The M60 motorway, Manchester Ring Motorway or Manchester Outer Ring Road is an orbital motorway in North West England. Built over a 40-year period, it passes through most of Greater Manchester's metropolitan boroughs except for Wigan and Bol ...
at a large free-flow
interchange at junction 5. The speed limit also goes up to 40 mph.
Princess Parkway (M60 motorway to the M56 motorway)
This section is entirely
dual carriageway trunk road, and is an important link between the
M60 Manchester Outer Ring road and the
M56 motorway
The M56 motorway, also known as the North Cheshire motorway, serves the Cheshire and Greater Manchester areas of England. It runs east to west from junction 4 of the M60 at Gatley, south of Manchester, to Dunkirk, approximately north of Ches ...
. This section is called Princess Parkway and largely has a speed limit. Between the M56 and M60, the road has two intermediate junctions; with the B5166 towards
Northenden
Northenden is a suburb of Manchester, Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 14,771 at the 2011 census. It lies on the south side of the River Mersey, west of Stockport and south of Manchester city centre, bounded by Didsbury to ...
and Sale Moor, and with the
A560 leading to
Gatley
Gatley is a suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England, 3 miles north-east of Manchester Airport.
History Toponymy
Within the boundaries of the historic county of Cheshire, in 1290, Gatley was known as ''Ga ...
,
Wythenshawe
Wythenshawe () is a district of the city of Manchester, England. Historically in Cheshire, Wythenshawe was transferred in 1931 to the City of Manchester, which had begun building a massive housing estate there in the 1920s. With an area of approx ...
and
Baguley
Baguley ( ) is an electoral ward of the city of Manchester in Wythenshawe, England. The population at the 2011 census was 14,794.
Baguley is derived from the Old English words Bagca, badger, and Leah, clearing or meadow.
Historically in Cheshi ...
. Between junctions, the A5103 here has four lanes in each direction with no
hard shoulder
A shoulder, hard shoulder (British) or breakdown lane, is an emergency stopping lane by the verge of a road or motorway, on the right side in countries which drive on the right, and on the left side in countries which drive on the left. Many wide ...
. Between the on-and-off
sliproads of the junctions, it has 3 lanes in each direction with hard shoulder. At the southern end, at the A560 junction, the A5103 seamlessly becomes the mainline of the M56 heading towards
Manchester Airport,
Chester and the
M6 motorway
The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 and the western end of the A14 at ...
. Northbound traffic on the M56 must leave the mainline of the motorway at a sliproad to remain on the M56. Remaining on the mainline leads directly to the A5103.
References
External links
*
Map of Manchester's trams in 1944
{{DEFAULTSORT:5-5103
Roads in England
Roads in Greater Manchester
Transport in Manchester
Streets in Manchester